Your DayZ world is the thing you cannot get back if it is lost, so back it up before you change settings, change files or update.
Before you start: stop the server so the backup holds complete files. See How to start, stop, restart and force-stop your server.
Where the world is stored
The world and character data are kept by DayZ in a storage folder inside the mission folder, which is inside the mpmissions folder in Files. The official default mission is dayzOffline.chernarusplus.
Make a backup
- Open your server in the panel and click Backups in the left menu.
- Click Start backup with Files selected. The backup copies the whole server folder, so the world is included.
- To keep a copy outside PlayNHost, open the ... menu of the backup and choose Download.
The server folder also holds the game's own files, which can be large, so check the size on the Backups page. If it does not fit your backup space, ask support what to leave out. Do not guess an ignore pattern, because a wrong one can leave your world out of the backup. See How to create, download and restore backups for scheduling, locking and limits.
What to make sure is included
Stop the server first so the files are consistent, then download the whole mpmissions folder (it holds the mission files and the saved world). You do not need to keep the server configuration file, because the panel writes it again from your settings at every start. The server folder also holds large game files, so a backup of everything is very big.
Restore a backup
A restore replaces the current files with the backup, and anything changed since is lost. Take a fresh backup of the current state first if you may want it back.
Choose Restore to server from the backup's ... menu, confirm, and start the server when it finishes.
